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We're back with a great camera courtesy of Bosch, and a new streaming platform on Youtube. If you notice a problem with streaming, try refreshing the page and restarting the streams. If you have technical issues or any other kind of issue, please use the contact staff link to get assistance. Please feel free to report any spam or disrespect to AKP staff.

Remember to be respectful and courteous to other viewers, and enjoy the show!

Stay on the lookout for live chats this year, every Tuesday and Thursday at noon MST. I'll be chatting with everyone to answer any and all questions.

A Kestrel pair is laying claim to our nesting box and have been sitting on the box daily as well as hunting in the surrounding fields here in Peyton, Colorado. Boise chicks have fledged ahead of us the past three seasons. Spring is evident so I am predicting eggs on the KestrelCam by first week of April 2017.

Yay! So excited to have our first-ever over-night stay by a kestrel in the box. We had no takers on the box last year, so we moved it to a different location on the property. One month later, bingo. I'm also excited that it is a male, hoping that he will be able to lure a female to lay her eggs here.

Yes, I'm in New Mexico! It's approximately 10-11 ft to the bottom of the box. The ground slopes away rapidly on that side so it seems higher. Our camera is a vivotek camera (the one that is recommended) that we have had for 2 years now. It is mounted on the nest box roof in a plastic utilty box designed for outdoor electrical components. There is a hole drilled in the roof of the box under the camera for access to the interior. It should hold up to weather, but time will tell. It was not a cheap camera, but does very well--infrared at night and during the day makes a nice crisp image.

Good morning everyone!I'm pleased to announce the KestrelCams page is now live! Courtship is in full swing, and the female has been roosting in the nest box at night. Any predictions on when the first egg will show up? We will all certainly find out!

If you notice any issues or problems, feel free to shoot me a personal message or email kestrelpartnership@peregrinefund.org. I'll hold our first live chat tomorrow (3/14/2017) at noon MST.

Thank you, Delora, for your answer about the rain. Could have been something about pixels with the camera, too, I was thinking.

Today I managed to see the female in the box during my lunch hour, just before she left. I wonder if she's looking for her mate before she decides to fly off. A few evenings ago after I saw the male on the nest box ledge, the female eventually zoomed into the box with a resolute little chitter. (Love the audio.) Hope I see the kestrels at least a few more times, perhaps even together, before she settles down and lays her eggs. First day of spring!

A sign of good hunting to come, all that rain will bring insects for the nestlings.

On the bedding material this year: I wonder if there might be too much in the nest box this year, actually. I have seen the female kicking it behind her like snow being plowed rather than seeing a scrape in the box - a funny sight. But the new chicks will be so tiny I hope they don't get lost....

It entertains me when the male or female end up with little flecks of bedding on their back after scooping a scrape, haha! Worry not, I actually put in the same level of bedding as I did last year. By the time the chicks hatch, it will be fairly flattened from getting sat on so much during incubation. Right now, the digging and re-digging of scrapes seems to just be fluffing the stuff.

Hi, Delora! Always nice to see something from you. Thanks for the reassuring details on how the bedding gets broken in! It truly adds more to nest box watching this year to start earlier, during mating season. I look forward to seeing the mom-to-be getting broody...

I saw the male perch in the entrance once, but indeed, I haven't seen anyone since the female left this morning. I couldn't really blame them, however...it's sunny and warm out. I wanted to leave the office and wander myself!

The Kestrel will not start full incubation until all eggs are laid. This helps with keeping the little ones near same size and hatch dates. So you will see periods with no one on the eggs. Feel free to explore our Kestrel Korner web page. We have been working with the Kestrtel Partnership for 4 years.

Nope! It's the same box as last year. There is only the one hole - the entrance. The side panel is covered with a plastic strip, and it's there mostly to let light in for the camera during the day. It has been a windy and stormy spring for us, however! :)-D

This is because the stream video is a bit delayed in time - this is to have a buffer up on the video to ensure smooth streaming. It also keeps the streams up and running over minor network interruptions. It shouldn't impact data collection, however, as we can easily offset the data to match the streams at the end of the year. :)

How TOTALLY mega exciting! I am so glad that things will start to perk up in the nest box soon. BTW that is the brownest egg I have ever seen on the KestrelCam. How does diet, water source, etc., affect the color of an eggshell?